The next morning the real Durkik Forgeheart once again thanked the heroes for rescuing him the day before (but they really did kinda kill him) and took them to the Stone Anvil to a secret area deep within the temple. He showed them the door to the Sepulcher and told them that he could go no further.

The heroes entered the area and saw the stone door at the far end of the enormous room. It was, however, behind a wall of filigree. An image of Moradin emerged from the barrier and challenged the heroes”

“Think you carefully on Moradin’s precepts, his teachings, his actions, and his favored disciples. Then speak unto me a parable, a tale of Moradin, not that you have learned from his texts, but that you have created yourself. Let it show your understanding of his words and his ways, and you may pass.”

Despite having a follower of Moradin, the group utterly failed this skill challenge (one success and four failures. The once success was “if the party contains a divine character who worships Moradin, they gain 1 success automatically”).

The party could still bash their way through the filigree but they had to deal with five guardian writhing chains first.

Once they were dealt with, along with the filigree, the party was able to go through the stone door and into Mountainroot Temple.

You feel no magic – no tingling or shimmering. It occurs between steps; one instant, you’re in the sepulcher, and the next you’re…not. You are in a great, stone-walled chamber. Numerous doorways – many of which are contained within deep stone arches, almost like artificial caves - provide egress. A platform with multiple stairs stands near the chamber’s center, presumably for a ceremonial purpose long since forgotten. The eastern portion of the room appears to have been largely damaged in an ancient cave-in, marring one of two great reliefs that adorn the far wall.

Perched on one of the archways and atop the undamaged relief, a pair of foul females with ragged hair and the claws and wings of vultures turn piercing eyes in your direction, letting loose with a terrible, predatory cry. Only a few yards from you, what appears to be a scruffy, abnormally short dwarf peers at you between slitted lids.

While the heroes did prevail here, the combination of the slystone fey dwarves, the harpies, and the layout of the room, proved to be a formidable obstacle for the group. Near the end of the battle the fey realized they were done for. The last harpy flew to a far ledge and glared at the group with a watchful eye. The final slystone dwarf ruffian dropped his weapon and held up his hands in surrender.

Umberto kicked away his weapon and approached him, intent on discovering why fey creatures were in an abandoned dwarven temple. The Grognak, under the influence of Wicked Fang, slew the ruffian on the spot.

A quick search of the room revealed that the other entrances to this chamber were similar to the one they entered from the sepulcher; one can see into the other temples through the portal, but you cannot exit through the portal.

From here the heroes headed down a narrow side passageway to a handful of rooms; kitchen, wine/beer storage, and a dining room. They discovered a secret door to the vault. In there they found more harpies as well as some quickling runners, who immediately dropped their coins and attacked. The small, gray humanoids were difficult to deal with, as they darted through the room and made attacks on the run. The daggerspring floor was also an issue for anyone who weighed more than 50 pounds.

The day was victorious and Umberto, sensing foreboding encounters soon to come, decided to take his team back to the first room, and take an extended rest.